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***Official Soccer Discussion Thread*** (2 Viewers)

Freddy looking to play in Serbia? :unsure:
somebody posted that... I thought here? for a team that's playing Europa Cup.
Yeah, I posted it. Jagodina or something like that. They were 3rd in the Serbian league. I've only seen it on Goal.com, but it was Yves, who's reliable. It was reported as a done deal.
And they got knocked out of the Europa League today. #FreddyJinx
Doubt Jagodina was ever going far in Europa. They were 23 points behind 2nd-place Partizan last season and 20 ahead of last place. In other news, first-place Red Star got an FFP ban from the Champions League. :sadbanana:

The Serbian League is a step down from MLS. Throw out Red Star and Partizan and I'm not sure it's better than NASL.

 
There are strong rumors that Chicharito will be loaned to Atlético for 2 years.

Not sure how I feel about this... Atlético needs a Villa replacement to pair with Mandzukic, not a poacher like Hernandez.

 
is there a football manager thread?

my question is once you learn soccer is FM a great game, or is FM a great game that can help you learn soccer?

(i was going to ask why it was not called soccer manager, but decided not to :) )

 
is there a football manager thread?

my question is once you learn soccer is FM a great game, or is FM a great game that can help you learn soccer?

(i was going to ask why it was not called soccer manager, but decided not to :) )
Yes there is a FM thread. It was on the bottom of page 1 this morning. May have dropped to page 2 by now.

I think FIFA is probably a little better for n00bs to learn the game, but if you play FM and read all the web tutorials and stuff, yes, you'll learn a ****load about the game. FM is a bit like getting the game from a firehose.

 
is there a football manager thread?

my question is once you learn soccer is FM a great game, or is FM a great game that can help you learn soccer?

(i was going to ask why it was not called soccer manager, but decided not to :) )
Yes there is a FM thread. It was on the bottom of page 1 this morning. May have dropped to page 2 by now.

I think FIFA is probably a little better for n00bs to learn the game, but if you play FM and read all the web tutorials and stuff, yes, you'll learn a ****load about the game. FM is a bit like getting the game from a firehose.
cool thx

 
So 7yo Floppo Jr (Floppinho) is wrapping up his first week of soccer camp ever.

I've been very intentionally slow with pushing organized sport on him- he's done a soccer "class" pretty regularly but nothing competitive. I can see he's got some innate ability (plus he's a lefty with kicking), but he doesn't really have a competitive bone in his body... at least not yet. He'd rather run around and chat with the coaches and other players than be the guy who has to go and get the ball.

So I was a little nervous for him as I dropped him off at camp on Monday. But then I saw some really small, young, nerdy looking kids showing up so I figured he wouldn't get overwhelmed by other kids experience or abilities. I was right on one count- he didn't get overwhelmed. But every kid I've seen at this camp- one of many camps in Manhattan- is really, really good. These kids are waaaaay past the basics of "this is how you kick the ball" and onto doing moves and skills I only saw as a teenager. And this isn't one of the elite or advanced soccer camps in the area.

Dunno why I'm positing this...I guess as an update that most of your are probably already aware of- there are a LOT of tiny American kids playing this sport at levels way beyond what I thought were possible based on my own, specific experience with the sport.

The future is bright, my friends.

 
So 7yo Floppo Jr (Floppinho) is wrapping up his first week of soccer camp ever.

I've been very intentionally slow with pushing organized sport on him- he's done a soccer "class" pretty regularly but nothing competitive. I can see he's got some innate ability (plus he's a lefty with kicking), but he doesn't really have a competitive bone in his body... at least not yet. He'd rather run around and chat with the coaches and other players than be the guy who has to go and get the ball.

So I was a little nervous for him as I dropped him off at camp on Monday. But then I saw some really small, young, nerdy looking kids showing up so I figured he wouldn't get overwhelmed by other kids experience or abilities. I was right on one count- he didn't get overwhelmed. But every kid I've seen at this camp- one of many camps in Manhattan- is really, really good. These kids are waaaaay past the basics of "this is how you kick the ball" and onto doing moves and skills I only saw as a teenager. And this isn't one of the elite or advanced soccer camps in the area.

Dunno why I'm positing this...I guess as an update that most of your are probably already aware of- there are a LOT of tiny American kids playing this sport at levels way beyond what I thought were possible based on my own, specific experience with the sport.

The future is bright, my friends.
All the sweeter when I raise my kid to kick the **** out of those little *******. I've got Nigel De Jong tapes playing in the womb.

 
So 7yo Floppo Jr (Floppinho) is wrapping up his first week of soccer camp ever.

I've been very intentionally slow with pushing organized sport on him- he's done a soccer "class" pretty regularly but nothing competitive. I can see he's got some innate ability (plus he's a lefty with kicking), but he doesn't really have a competitive bone in his body... at least not yet. He'd rather run around and chat with the coaches and other players than be the guy who has to go and get the ball.

So I was a little nervous for him as I dropped him off at camp on Monday. But then I saw some really small, young, nerdy looking kids showing up so I figured he wouldn't get overwhelmed by other kids experience or abilities. I was right on one count- he didn't get overwhelmed. But every kid I've seen at this camp- one of many camps in Manhattan- is really, really good. These kids are waaaaay past the basics of "this is how you kick the ball" and onto doing moves and skills I only saw as a teenager. And this isn't one of the elite or advanced soccer camps in the area.

Dunno why I'm positing this...I guess as an update that most of your are probably already aware of- there are a LOT of tiny American kids playing this sport at levels way beyond what I thought were possible based on my own, specific experience with the sport.

The future is bright, my friends.
when my kid played in preschool there were a couple of kids who were amazing

this was before they even had anyone in front of the net and just used those tiny practice ones

 
OK, a couple soccer questions that I've built up over the last few weeks of research.

First, the FA Cup and Football League Cup (Capital One Cup? I think those are the names)....

Why do they do these cups and how serious do teams like Liverpool, ManU, Chelsea, take these competitions? It's hard to find any sort of comparison in any US sports where they work in tournaments in the middle of the season.

Champions League--Has there ever been a thought of having some sort of Champions League that encompassed the entire world? Or is it kind of pointless, since outside of Europe, other leagues aren't all that good? Meaning, could the MLS ever hope to get a team at least in the running to play in the Champions League in the future, if the MLS could ever grow enough?

 
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OK, a couple soccer questions that I've built up over the last few weeks of research.

First, the FA Cup and Football League Cup (I think those are the names)....

Why do they do these cups and how serious do teams like Liverpool, ManU, Chelsea, take these competitions? It's hard to find any sort of comparison in any US sports where they work in tournaments in the middle of the season.

Champions League--Has there ever been a thought of having some sort of Champions League that encompassed the entire world? Or is it kind of pointless, since outside of Europe, other leagues aren't all that good? Meaning, could the MLS ever hope to get a team at least in the running to play in the Champions League in the future, if the MLS could ever grow enough?
The F.A. Cup has a storied history and was probably every bit as prestigious as a top league title until the last decade or so. Now, top teams begin to take it seriously if they get deep in the competition, but play young guys in early matches. The League Cup isn't taken all that seriously until the semis or so.

A full international league is pretty much untenable because of travel. The winners of the regional confederation Champions Leagues do play in club tournament at the beginning of the season. It's a bit more than a tournament of friendlies, but not taken all that seriously. Sporting KC, NYRB, and DC United are in the Concacaf Champions League this year. If they win that (its almost always won by a Mexican team), they would play in the worldwide tournament next year.

 
Champions League--Has there ever been a thought of having some sort of Champions League that encompassed the entire world? Or is it kind of pointless, since outside of Europe, other leagues aren't all that good? Meaning, could the MLS ever hope to get a team at least in the running to play in the Champions League in the future, if the MLS could ever grow enough?
FIFA Club World Cup. No one really cares.

 
OK, a couple soccer questions that I've built up over the last few weeks of research.

First, the FA Cup and Football League Cup (I think those are the names)....

Why do they do these cups and how serious do teams like Liverpool, ManU, Chelsea, take these competitions? It's hard to find any sort of comparison in any US sports where they work in tournaments in the middle of the season.
FA Cup is a pretty big domestic cup and most take it seriously imo. They will prioritize Champions League and some league fixtures, but its a nice trophy to win.

The League Cup is the least important. Likely not taken seriously until the semis

Priority for most top teams-

Champions League

League title

domestic cup

Is England the only country with two domestic cups?

Champions League--Has there ever been a thought of having some sort of Champions League that encompassed the entire world? Or is it kind of pointless, since outside of Europe, other leagues aren't all that good? Meaning, could the MLS ever hope to get a team at least in the running to play in the Champions League in the future, if the MLS could ever grow enough?
IIRC, that's how the "Champions League" was formed. The top teams were talking about starting a SEUT league but UEFA/FIFA formed the CL to prevent this*.

*this info is fuzzy, but I' pretty sure it's close.

 
Dunno why I'm positing this...I guess as an update that most of your are probably already aware of- there are a LOT of tiny American kids playing this sport at levels way beyond what I thought were possible based on my own, specific experience with the sport.

The future is bright, my friends.
I'll second that.

My 8 year old has just playing with a travel team (regional -- no overnight stuff). This is kids who were mostly all-stars on their rec teams, but not an elite travel team or anything. The team play is disjointed still (it's mostly pickup play until September), but there are some really skilled kids out there.

Oh, yeah...updating my earlier post -- my son made the team. They ended up taking 29 of the 43 who tried out. Which...wow. Fourteen eight year olds got cut.

 
Great info guys thanks a lot. Seems like the FIFA Club World Cup is a new thing. I'd imagine that over time if the CONCACAF teams started winning more, than the European teams would take it more seriously?

 
Dunno why I'm positing this...I guess as an update that most of your are probably already aware of- there are a LOT of tiny American kids playing this sport at levels way beyond what I thought were possible based on my own, specific experience with the sport.

The future is bright, my friends.
I'll second that.

My 8 year old has just playing with a travel team (regional -- no overnight stuff). This is kids who were mostly all-stars on their rec teams, but not an elite travel team or anything. The team play is disjointed still (it's mostly pickup play until September), but there are some really skilled kids out there.

Oh, yeah...updating my earlier post -- my son made the team. They ended up taking 29 of the 43 who tried out. Which...wow. Fourteen eight year olds got cut.
29 kids on one team???

 
Great info guys thanks a lot. Seems like the FIFA Club World Cup is a new thing. I'd imagine that over time if the CONCACAF teams started winning more, than the European teams would take it more seriously?
Oh, the Club World Cup is at the bottom of everyone's "important" list imo

 
I don't think its that new. I'm pretty sure Zico's Santos teams used to #####slap the Eurpoean teams back in the early 80s. There have been some upstart finalists (wasn't the Algerian or Morroccan team a finalist last year)?

In any case, European teams won't take it seriously until it generates a bunch of money. Right now, its probably less profitable than their preseason friendly tours.

 
Dunno why I'm positing this...I guess as an update that most of your are probably already aware of- there are a LOT of tiny American kids playing this sport at levels way beyond what I thought were possible based on my own, specific experience with the sport.

The future is bright, my friends.
I'll second that.

My 8 year old has just playing with a travel team (regional -- no overnight stuff). This is kids who were mostly all-stars on their rec teams, but not an elite travel team or anything. The team play is disjointed still (it's mostly pickup play until September), but there are some really skilled kids out there.

Oh, yeah...updating my earlier post -- my son made the team. They ended up taking 29 of the 43 who tried out. Which...wow. Fourteen eight year olds got cut.
yikes. that would crush my kid- me even worse.

[oldman] in my day, "regional" had very specific meaning related to soccer; the level just below making the national team was making the regional team (there were/are 4). We had something called Districts, where your town select team would play teams from other towns in your District (for us, it was 2 or 3 combined counties). You'd get picked for the District team (IIRC, we had 9 or 10 in the state), and then State, then Regional, then National.

 
I don't think its that new. I'm pretty sure Zico's Santos teams used to #####slap the Eurpoean teams back in the early 80s. There have been some upstart finalists (wasn't the Algerian or Morroccan team a finalist last year)?

In any case, European teams won't take it seriously until it generates a bunch of money. Right now, its probably less profitable than their preseason friendly tours.
Intertoto CUp, IIRC.

 
Dunno why I'm positing this...I guess as an update that most of your are probably already aware of- there are a LOT of tiny American kids playing this sport at levels way beyond what I thought were possible based on my own, specific experience with the sport.

The future is bright, my friends.
I'll second that.

My 8 year old has just playing with a travel team (regional -- no overnight stuff). This is kids who were mostly all-stars on their rec teams, but not an elite travel team or anything. The team play is disjointed still (it's mostly pickup play until September), but there are some really skilled kids out there.

Oh, yeah...updating my earlier post -- my son made the team. They ended up taking 29 of the 43 who tried out. Which...wow. Fourteen eight year olds got cut.
29 kids on one team???
One 'academy' with three 'squads'. They practice together, hang together at tournaments, will typically have games at the same location (not always same start time) and kids can be moved around to cover positional needs or absences on other squads as needed.

So sort of one big team, but really three smaller, related teams. And they try to make the three squads of equal quality.

 
Dunno why I'm positing this...I guess as an update that most of your are probably already aware of- there are a LOT of tiny American kids playing this sport at levels way beyond what I thought were possible based on my own, specific experience with the sport.

The future is bright, my friends.
I'll second that.

My 8 year old has just playing with a travel team (regional -- no overnight stuff). This is kids who were mostly all-stars on their rec teams, but not an elite travel team or anything. The team play is disjointed still (it's mostly pickup play until September), but there are some really skilled kids out there.

Oh, yeah...updating my earlier post -- my son made the team. They ended up taking 29 of the 43 who tried out. Which...wow. Fourteen eight year olds got cut.
29 kids on one team???
One 'academy' with three 'squads'. They practice together, hang together at tournaments, will typically have games at the same location (not always same start time) and kids can be moved around to cover positional needs or absences on other squads as needed.

So sort of one big team, but really three smaller, related teams. And they try to make the three squads of equal quality.
Makes more sense and sounds cool :thumbup:

 
yikes. that would crush my kid- me even worse.
It was stressful for him and for us. Especially since they asked him to come to the first three post-cut practices on a trial basis (so basically a six-session tryout instead of the normal three sessions).They were happy with his soccer, but he can be a little spacier than most and sometimes has more issues with listening too. On the plus side it finally convinced him that me and mom weren't just giving him a hard time about listening and he actually improved on it in a short period of time. All about the motivation I guess.

Way prouder of him for that change and for sticking with it even though he was nervous and upset that he was on the bubble than anything actually related to soccer.

 
I don't think its that new. I'm pretty sure Zico's Santos teams used to #####slap the Eurpoean teams back in the early 80s. There have been some upstart finalists (wasn't the Algerian or Morroccan team a finalist last year)?

In any case, European teams won't take it seriously until it generates a bunch of money. Right now, its probably less profitable than their preseason friendly tours.
Here is the history.

* Starting in 1960, there was a competition called The Intercontinental Cup. This was not a FIFA event.

* This Cup featured the winners from South America and Europe facing off, mostly in a multi game series, from 1960 to 1979

* Starting in 1980, it switched to a single game format and was hosted in Japan

* From 1980 through 2004, this game was hosted in Japan (first in Tokyo and then the last 3 years in Yokohama)

* Then in 2000, FIFA got involved to organize what we know today as the World Club Cup

* FIFA ran one tournament in 2000 and then it did not run again until 2005, when the Intercontinental Cup finally ended

* Since 2005, the tournament has run every year.

* An MLS team has never played in the FIFA World Club tournament

 
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Makes more sense and sounds cool :thumbup:
Yeah -- it's actually very cool. I guess there's some natural attrition as some kids lose interest in soccer and because DC's such a transient region, but a lot of these kids will play together for 5-10 years now. There's definitely a nice vibe about it. And I guess my wife and I will get to know all the parents too.

 
yikes. that would crush my kid- me even worse.
It was stressful for him and for us. Especially since they asked him to come to the first three post-cut practices on a trial basis (so basically a six-session tryout instead of the normal three sessions).They were happy with his soccer, but he can be a little spacier than most and sometimes has more issues with listening too. On the plus side it finally convinced him that me and mom weren't just giving him a hard time about listening and he actually improved on it in a short period of time. All about the motivation I guess.

Way prouder of him for that change and for sticking with it even though he was nervous and upset that he was on the bubble than anything actually related to soccer.
I keep telling my wife that sports teach SOOOO much more than just "sports".

 
Sporting KC, NYRB, and DC United are in the Concacaf Champions League this year. If they win that (its almost always won by a Mexican team), they would play in the worldwide tournament next year.
The CONCACAF Champions League is relatively new. It started in 2008. It has only been won by Liga MX teams. In fact only once was there a non Liga MX team in the final. Total domination

This year DC, KC, NYRB, Portland and Montreal (via Canada) are all in the tournament starting up in August

 
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* An MLS team has never played in the FIFA World Club tournament
However, in 1998 DC United did beat Vasco da Gama 2-1 over two legs immediately after they won the Intercontinental Cup. All kinds of qualifiers (Vasco didn't care very much, they'd just traveled back and forth from Japan, one game was in DC [0-1] and one game was in Miami [2-0]) but DC played really well.

Newly Retired probably has a better perspective and no homer-tinted glasses, but that 1998 DCU team might still be the best team MLS has produced. The vast majority of the starters were key players for their respective national teams and the key players in the side had (mostly) been together for three years at that point. Oddly that's the only season in MLS's first four years they didn't win the title.

 
Sporting KC, NYRB, and DC United are in the Concacaf Champions League this year. If they win that (its almost always won by a Mexican team), they would play in the worldwide tournament next year.
The CONCACAF Champions League is relatively new. It started in 2008. It has only been won by Liga MX teams. In fact only once was there a non Liga MX team in the final. Total domination

This year DC, KC, NYRB, Portland and Montreal (via Canada) are all in the tournament starting up in August
Again though, there was a similar competition before 2008 but it used to be played at one site with far fewer teams. IIRC the Mexican teams started lobbying for home and home series and a more typical tournament structure after DC United and the LA Galaxy won the tournament by hosting the tournament in the late 1990s. I was there when DC beat Leon and Toluca.

ETA: just looked this up and was surprised to see the tournament has been held in some form or another every year going back to 1962. Also surprised to see that no MLS team has made the finals since 2000. The Galaxy lost the final in 1997, DC United won in 1998 and the Galaxy won in 2000.

 
* An MLS team has never played in the FIFA World Club tournament
However, in 1998 DC United did beat Vasco da Gama 2-1 over two legs immediately after they won the Intercontinental Cup. All kinds of qualifiers (Vasco didn't care very much, they'd just traveled back and forth from Japan, one game was in DC [0-1] and one game was in Miami [2-0]) but DC played really well.

Newly Retired probably has a better perspective and no homer-tinted glasses, but that 1998 DCU team might still be the best team MLS has produced. The vast majority of the starters were key players for their respective national teams and the key players in the side had (mostly) been together for three years at that point. Oddly that's the only season in MLS's first four years they didn't win the title.
I believe that 1997-1998 version of DC United was the best MLS team ever. Granted it was much easier to get talent in a 10 team league than in a 19 team league but the players speak for themselves, especially when almost all of them were in their primes.

Ethevery, Moreno, Pope, Harkes, Agoos, Lassiter, Olsen, Sanneh, Llamosa formed a really good base of players for DC.

Etch and Moreno are arguably both in the top 5 all time in MLS history,

Pope, Harkes, and Agoos are all in the US Hall of Fame.

Llamosa was a starter on the National team.

Sanneh was an up and coming solid player.

 
Sporting KC, NYRB, and DC United are in the Concacaf Champions League this year. If they win that (its almost always won by a Mexican team), they would play in the worldwide tournament next year.
The CONCACAF Champions League is relatively new. It started in 2008. It has only been won by Liga MX teams. In fact only once was there a non Liga MX team in the final. Total domination

This year DC, KC, NYRB, Portland and Montreal (via Canada) are all in the tournament starting up in August
Again though, there was a similar competition before 2008 but it used to be played at one site with far fewer teams.
it is the same as how the European Cup evolved into the UEFA Champions League

I think all confederations ran a version of the Champions Cup where just the winners of the domestic leagues were qualified. This was expanded into champions league formats which allowed for more teams from certain leagues to qualify.

 
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So 7yo Floppo Jr (Floppinho) is wrapping up his first week of soccer camp ever.

I've been very intentionally slow with pushing organized sport on him- he's done a soccer "class" pretty regularly but nothing competitive. I can see he's got some innate ability (plus he's a lefty with kicking), but he doesn't really have a competitive bone in his body... at least not yet. He'd rather run around and chat with the coaches and other players than be the guy who has to go and get the ball.

So I was a little nervous for him as I dropped him off at camp on Monday. But then I saw some really small, young, nerdy looking kids showing up so I figured he wouldn't get overwhelmed by other kids experience or abilities. I was right on one count- he didn't get overwhelmed. But every kid I've seen at this camp- one of many camps in Manhattan- is really, really good. These kids are waaaaay past the basics of "this is how you kick the ball" and onto doing moves and skills I only saw as a teenager. And this isn't one of the elite or advanced soccer camps in the area.

Dunno why I'm positing this...I guess as an update that most of your are probably already aware of- there are a LOT of tiny American kids playing this sport at levels way beyond what I thought were possible based on my own, specific experience with the sport.

The future is bright, my friends.
All the sweeter when I raise my kid to kick the **** out of those little *******. I've got Nigel De Jong tapes playing in the womb.
Does this mean congrats are in order? If so, congrats Scooby!

 

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